Instrument-a-Day project

Craft & Design Music

This maker, Ranjit Bhatnagar, is building and posting a new instrument each day for the month of February. There are some really cool ideas here.

Moonmilk

6 thoughts on “Instrument-a-Day project

  1. C says:

    this is not an instrument

    its a wind chime…sorry

  2. Michael Fusion says:

    musical instrument

    noun
    any of various devices or contrivances that can be used to produce musical tones or sounds

    musical instrument

    any device for producing a musical sound. The principal types of such instruments, classified by the method of producing sound, are percussion, stringed, keyboard, wind, and electronic

    so according to these definitions (princeton, wordsmith) it is a musical instrument.

    would you say that a pencil is not a musical instrument? wait, you can use it for percussion in either a rhythm or randomly, does this not do the same thing?

  3. Volkemon says:

    Well…

    @M.Fusion and C-

    Yes Michael, you did find definitions that pretty much put anything as a musical instrument…eye (ear?) of the beholder thing…

    but to C’s credit-

    “It’s a very windy day today so I wanted to make a windchime.” is a quote from the MAKEr himself….from his description of this project. Now if the artist calls it a windchime, I think it fair for C to also.

    Major difference between the pencil analogy and the chime- One “plays” the pencil…. not this wind chime. There are some pretty neat mods and ‘instruments’ on the link….but the wind chime is in no way being played by anyone. If there was a ‘musician’ involved, manipulating it in any way, it would be an musical instument. As shown, it doesnt qualify IMO..

    BTW,of the projects shown,this one is the lamest. A close second is the jar of fenugreek seeds…but at least he ‘plays’ the jar.

    Wikipedia says it well:
    “A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified for the purpose of making music. In principle, anything that produces sound can serve as a musical instrument. The term “musical instrument”, however, is generally reserved for items that have a specific musical purpose..”

    Errr…checking before posting is a good idea… :)

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Gareth Branwyn is a freelance writer and the former Editorial Director of Maker Media. He is the author or editor of over a dozen books on technology, DIY, and geek culture. He is currently a contributor to Boing Boing, Wink Books, and Wink Fun. His free weekly-ish maker tips newsletter can be found at garstipsandtools.com.

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